Posted on Wednesday, April 14th, 2021 at 4:22 pm
When someone is first learning how to drive, where do they typically start to practice? Empty parking lots, quiet back roads, carefully curated driver’s ed courses and anywhere with little risk of a collision. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to admit that they learned to drive on the highway because the presence of large trucks and truck accidents is a major contributor to highway anxiety.
Accidents involving trucks are more common than ever, especially in our COVID-19 “new normal,” where online shopping, deliveries, and goods transported via eighteen-wheeler fleets have skyrocketed. Truck drivers are aware of their foreboding presence on the roads, which is why their training prioritizes road etiquette for the safety of both fellow truckers and smaller vehicles. Unfortunately, accidents and carelessness still happen, despite good intentions and training.
Here are 5 things truckers wish you knew about their road presence:
- Studies have shown that over 475,000 large trucks are involved in accidents each year.
- Of those 475,000 accidents, 140,000 of them resulted in injuries requiring hospitalization, and 5,000 were sadly fatal.
- The State of California is second only to Texas when it comes to being one of the most dangerous states for truck accidents.
- Most automobile and large truck collisions are caused by human error, bad weather, or poor judgement, such as driving within their blind spots.
- Nearly 29% of automobile fatalities were due to head-on collisions with a truck.
You might be wondering if this lets truckers off the hook in most cases? Not necessarily. Each case and every accident are unique. Often, there is no one party at fault over the other, which is why having an experienced truck accident attorney is so important.
If you or someone you love has been involved in a truck accident, you need an attorney that is strong, successful, and trusted. Tiemann Law Firm, Sacramento personal injury lawyers are here to help. Contact us today at (916) 999-9000 to schedule your free consultation.